Railway-crossing.



' Patented luly 3, |900.

J. S.. JENCKE-S, JB.

RAILWAY CROSSING.

(Application led Apr. ,20, 1900.)

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Patented 1u|y 3, |900.

.1. s. JENcKEs, 1n. RAILWAY CROSSING.

(Application led Apr. 20, 1900.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

W itnesses.

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- UNITED VSTATES f PATENT Ormea.

JOSEPH S. JENCKES, J R., OF TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA.

RAILWAY-CROSSING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No."653,006, dated July 3, 1900.

'Application filed April 20, 1900.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH S.- JnNcKEs, Jr. a citizen of the United States, residing at Terre Haute, in the county of Vigo and State of I ndiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Crossings; and' I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same.

' My invention relates to railroad-crossings, and has for its object to provide a crossing for railroads wherein the rails at the intersection of the tracks are made continuous, thus allowing the rolling stock to pass over smoothly and noiselessly and obviating the jolting and jarring and the consequent injury to the wheels and tracks which occur at the ordinary crossing. With this object in view I have constructed a device which is simple in its construction, cheap to manufacture, and, above all, durable and easy of operation, the points of novelty of which will be hereinafter more fully described, and more specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of a crossing constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the intersection of two rails of the l crossing shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rear View of the sliding block A of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional viewof the same, taken on the lines of Figs. 2 and 3.'

Referring to the drawings by letters, A is a sliding block provided with a dovetail groove a, which embraces a small rail B, upon which said block slides.

O and C are the intersecting rails, beveled at c to lfit the sliding block A.

D and D are the outer guard-rails common to all crossings, and E shows the inner guardrails, forming a complete parallelogram.

The operating-rods E', connected to a centrally-pivoted lever c at the center of the parallelogram formed by the inner guard-rails E, are operated in any suitable manner, but preferably in a way similar to the ordinary switches now in use.

The connecting-rods F are pivotally connected to the operating-rods E and also to the rods G. Said rods F are operated through suitable openings in the rails and are provided serai No. 13,662. (No man.)

withoutwardly-triangular extensions G',

formed integrallytherewith. Opposite to the l'times the length of the inward extension II.

Y Directly underneath the groove h are two circular recesses I, extending into the rear of the sliding block A, the purposes of which will be hereinafter set forth.

K is a locking-bolt forming an angle of forty-iive degrees with the intersecting rails and situated directly in rear of the sliding block A. Said locking-bolt is preferably cylindrical in form and is held in the outer casing k.

L is a spiral spring inclosed within the casing k and bearing against the rear of the locking-bolt K. K'is a small pin secured in any suitable manner to the locking-bolt K and extending upwardly and vertically therefrom.

Having thus specifically described-the several part-s of my invention, the operation is as follows: When it is desired to make the rails continuous, as shown in Fig. l, the operating-rod E is pulled in the direction away from the crossing by any suitable method, but preferably similar to the ordinary system of operating-switches. The pivoted centrallylocated lever reverses the direction of the operating-rod E, so that all four of the sliding blocks are moved at the same time and can be operated from either direction. The sliding blocks A, beingl connected to the said 0perating-rods E by means of the rods G and ythe connecting-rods F and constructed to slide on the s mall rail B, are drawn together until they come in contact with the guardrails D in a manner which will now be explained. The locking-bolt K, having a c onsta-nt push from the spiral spring L, enters andl is held within the vcircularrecess I in the rear of the sliding-block A. When there is a pull on the rod G, the inward extension H, which is integral with said rod, is free to move in the groove h in the rear of the sliding block A. The outwardly-triangular extension G', being also integral with the rod G, is also moved. The pin K in the top ofthe lockingbolt K is always in contact with the edge of the triangular extension. Now when the triangular extension is moved in either direction it forces the pin K up the side of the triangle, which forms an inclined plane. Vhen the pin K is at the vertex of the triangle, the locking-bolt K has been drawn entirely out of the recess I, and the inward extension II has reached the end of the groove 7L. The sliding block, being now free to move, is moved with the rod G. The pin K travels down the other side of the triangle, and as soon as the sliding block is pulled into the position shown in Fig. l the other recess I in rear of the sliding block is directly in line with the locking-bolt K, and the spring L forces said bolt into said recess, thus locking the sliding blocksecurely and rendering it impossible for said sliding block to be moved out of position by the Wheels of the cars or in any other manner than that described.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact construction herein set forth, as various slight changes might be made therein which would fall Within the limit and scope of my invention, and I consider myself entitled to all such changes and modifications.

Hay'ing specifically set forth the several parts and thoroughly explained the operation of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

l. In a railway-crossing, the combination with the tracks thereof of a sliding block, a groove in the bottom thereof, a track adapted to support said block, a groove and recesses JOS. S. JENCKES, JR.

Witnesses:

GEO. K. Intronics, W. D. MARKLE. 

